Brisah

The Femina of clothes stores, Brisah, meaning prosperity in Irish, cuts out half of the population completely from the picture. And when we say this, we mean it literally. Not only can’t men find anything of their own interest here, they find that even showing their genuine interest, in inanimate things like their wallets and bank balances, is a lost cause.

But what Brisah can do to the other "better" half, really has to be seen to be believed. There is no doubt about it... few stores can cater to women and find clothes to suit every occasion and need, the way the Brisah collection does. The catch is that you’ve got to be looking only for the high end stuff here.

Brisah has an in-house designing unit, along with designers working all over the country, which churn out one cool piece of apparel after the other. How many such designers they have, and in how many cities, was not disclosed. Could be one, could be a hundred. It is said that the store also keeps exclusive designer wear from names like JJ Walia, Tarun Tahiliani, Renu Tandon, Nisha Sagar and others.

The place has 5 floors of clothes, with each floor as different from the other as a roomful of UN delegates. The first floor is for Western wear and women's business wear, where items come for around Rs. 300 to Rs. 5,000. Teenagers stepping in with their mothers are not uncommon here, and neither is the nagging from the parent urging the "sweet sixteen" to go for something other than just Jeans.

The second floor is for exclusive fabrics, where material can be had from between Rs. 120 per meter to Rs. 4,000 per meter. The lighting effect in the entire store is brilliantly done, and so are the seating arrangements for the customers, where the staff can show you the wares. However, as with the designers of the clothes, the name of the designer of the store was also a "secret".

The third floor goes to saris, which can cost anything between Rs. 1,000 and Rs. 1,00,000 per piece. With this reviewer not being an expert on the delicate and tricky subject of saris, he will refrain from embarking on a prolonged discussion on the merits and demerits of each individual one of them.

Fourth is where the modern style elements come in. The floor is given to what they call elite wear, or designer wear, and hosts the names we had dropped earlier. With all branded as a "Brisah", the prices are definitely also brisah. They start at Rs. 2,500 and can go up to (or take you down by) Rs. 2,00,000.

The final floor is for salwars, which come for around Rs. 1,400 to Rs. 10,000. However, there is one contradiction which seeps up - not in the materials or the clothing itself, but with the management. While the owners are going all out with their publicity campaigns, it seems that a store manager had her head too full with her brisah to devote time or attention to charitable organizations indulging in free writeups. Reading between the lines, it spells that if you’re not too moneyed, they’re not too bothered.